2020 Domaine les Grande Vignes La Varenne du Poirier
2020 Domaine les Grande Vignes La Varenne du Poirier
Paris, Bordeaux, Provence—there are many regions that get lauded as the ultimate French experience. However, to me, the Loire Valley has always felt the most quintessentially French. Full of rolling green pastures and fields of wildflowers, grand châteaux, and tiny towns that spill into vineyards, the Loire is the France of fairy tales.
In the Loire, Chenin Blanc is the reigning white variety. To be honest, in my heart—and the rack of wine in my basement that I lovingly call “the cellar”—Chenin Blanc is also the reigning white variety. So much of my deep adoration for this humble grape is due to its chameleon-like ability to present as thought-provoking or gluggable, sparkling or still, sweet or ultra-dry, all depending where it's grown and who’s in charge. I especially love it in the shoulder seasons, like spring. It tastes like the world coming alive again after a long winter.
This wines sits squarely between thought-provoking and gluggable. A still, ultra-dry version of Chenin, it comes from Domaine Les Grande Vignes, a 300-year-old, family-run estate in Anjou. The vines are around 20 years old, farmed organically and biodynamically, and planted in black schist and sandstone soils. The nose is a chiseled, lemon-drenched apple orchard, chock full of acid and minerals. The palate follows suit, a blend of orchard fruit, white flowers, and citrus. One of Chenin’s best qualities is its rippin’ acidity; it cruises through the palate, wraps around fruit and earth, and keeps a seemingly serious wine light and lifted. The palate here is so ethereal, so drinkable, so elegant, so precise—it defies logic. Chenin is the ultimate food-pairing wine, as easy to drink with raw oysters as it is fit for pasta with spring peas and leeks.
If you are a fan of Loire-grown Chenin—or want to be—this is a must.